Gryphon Guild: Journey Into Darkness
Wing Four

Muse shook his head, slightly disturbed as Kaal'tarn and Tserisa left their dorm. Crystal closed the door and turned to look at him, sprawled on his back, a book in one forepaw, on their bed. "I'm lucky you're just devious, my love," he said with a grin, "and not evil like your Soul Sister there."

Crystal chuckled and rolled up the battlemaps. At least Kaal could be rational, too. "I've heard you say otherwise, my dear," she told him, tucking the maps into their niche in her desk. A slow flush crept onto Muse's white nares; he smiled and grabbed for her tail as she passed him.

"Well, that may be true!"

"Fool."

"Your fool, Phoenix-mine."

Laughing, Crystal bent over and gently nipped at the base of his beak before pulling free. "Everyone's coming soon, hun. You'd best get your lazy blue butt up."

Rolling his golden eyes in exaggeration, Muse nevertheless rose, marking his place in the book with one of Crystal's feathers. "Lazy? I'm offended, my love!"

Padding about, rearranging their collective furniture, Crystal replied, "I know you are." As she was laying down an extra rug on the barred floor, the golden gryphoness remarked idly, "Lux is here, hun."

Knowing that those of the Light Triad knew where each other was in a certain radius, Muse got up and opened the door again to allow the 30ft iridescent ludrakoni in.

"Morning, brother," Lux greeted, dipping her spiral horn. "Heyla, hun," she called to Crystal.

Muse grinned and gestured the seraph ludrakoni to the middle of the dorm. "I passed Acyd and Alan on my way down," Lux told them, arranging herself as a cat would.

"Ary told me that he would be slightly late," added Muse, curling up beside his mate. He'd left the door ajar so that the others would know to enter.

Crystal tucked one talon over her mate's left forepaw and nodded. "How's the new dorm, Lux?"

The ludrakoni chuckled. "We've got a view of the lake," she replied. "It's lovely."

Crystal grinned and everyone's head turned as Acyd and Alan came in through the door. Greetings were exchanged and the two gryphs took up spots on either side of the circle that was beginning to form. No sooner had the feathers on Acyd's rainbow wings settled, then a metallic clanking and a faint whir could be heard. Neo-Xolaris had shed his fur coat over the course of the months that had followed the capture of First Wave. His metal exterior gleamed with recent buffing and his red optics shone.

"I'm not late, am I?" he asked in his faintly-accented voice.

Heads shook and a bright light illuminated a corner of each of Xol's optics. He smiled, which included his lower jaw dropping and eyes whirling. "Good, then." He padded over to an unoccupied spot and sat, locking himself into position.

Acyd sprawled on her side. "So, do we have a set plan or what?" she asked casually, her purple plume of a tail flicking.

"Indeed we do," Crystal replied, passing a scroll to her Shieldsister. "We'll discuss details in full when Ary and Makaze get here."

"Hm," the gryphoness murmured as she read the document over. Satisfied, she passed it over to Lux. And so it went 'round until Muse landed it and tucked it away.

"Yo, Moos, CP."

A tall, thin, muscular elven warrior poked his head around the door. A mischievous smile lit his face when he saw the group. He chuckled. "Hey -- there are people in here. Thought I'd walked in on another --"

Muse's nares went bright red; Crystal's head snapped up and the talon that wasn't holding her mate's twitched. A faint red glow began to form in the circle of her talons.

Ary scooted in just as Makaze entered from behind.

Lux hooted at her Soul Sibs' expressions. She leaned forward, across the circle middle. "Walk in on what?" She grinned.

Muse turned a deeper shade of red, going purple about his cheeks. He turned his head and coughed into his paw.

There was a scrabble as all Wing Four members closed in on the embarrassed pair. It wasn't often they caught both Scout and Ambassador in full flush.

Makaze prodded Ary in the arm. "Spill!" she exclaimed gleefully.

The elf warrior stood up, placing a hand over his chest. It seemed as if he was doing his best to keep from laughing, but it was all an at. He cast a glance at Muse and Crystal, who were looking extremely uncomfortable. Muse had gone totally purple and his nares looked as if someone had painted them blood red; Crystal's left talon was getting brighter and brighter as she dug her beak into Muse's side, trying to wiggle away from everyone.

"Well?" everyone chorused, eagerly awaiting the tale.

Aryante began to pace, enjoying every minute of his moment of glory. The smell of scorched stone went unnoticed.

"Well, it was about three weeks ago, I believe. They'd know better than me. Anyway, I was coming down here and lo and behold, I saw this here door ajar. Ooh, like this." He strode to the door and illustrated. "So, I say to myself, ‘I'll drop in on them and chat a bit.' Well, I march in as I've done before, but I couldn't see anything! It was as dark as Tser's hide in this here room. So, I strike myself a match and light the candle over there --" He gestured. "And what do I see over yonder?"

"Ikcherie-SHIRAK!"

A giant fireball whizzed at the elf, scorching the air and singeing his jutting bangs as it crashed into the other wall, exploding into a mass of sparks and motes.

"Oh, shit!" Ary ducked and covered, barely missing the fireball.

Crystal was on her feet fast, breathing heavily. She alternated between the Guild tongue and her own as words failed her.

"I have never seen such alshol asktar in my whole elpheral existence! Hye cormorant isthtar believe this! Jokes are alright, Ary, but zhre il-jhetha Vaha!"

She jabbered on in Phoenix completely. Lux and Acyd, who knew much of the language, as well as Muse, covered their ears as Crystal became very graphic.

Aryante, his moment completely shattered, found himself staring down a very angry and embarrassed Phoenix in gryphon form.

"Orth!" Crystal said, jabbing a talon at her Shieldbrother. "Orth ilkcheu! Orth alver talion-itaz!" She gave a great heave and walked back to her mate, throwing herself down and looking the other way.

Perplexed, Ary turned to the Wing.

"Let's just say she called you a rotten talion fruit," Lux told him.

Pulling at his tunic, the elf's eyes pleaded more. "C'mon, Lux -- tell me what she said!"

"You don't want to know," Acyd affirmed, glancing over at the golden gryphoness. "Trust me. You're better off not knowing."

Lux gave him one comfort. "Phoenixes have a dozen words for excrement, for illegitimacy, two for hell and thirteen others that have no translatable meaning or I couldn't tell you in good faith."

Ary blanched. "I -- I'm sorry, CP."

A snort a steam escaped the mound that was Crystal. "'tis okay," she muttered after a long and painful silence. Sniffing, she rose and pulled more scrolls from her desk and passed them around. "These are some battle techniques and defense actions that you need to learn."

"I can't do this!" Alan sputtered, pointing at the diagram.

"Hmm," Xolaris murmured, sticking out his paw in mimicry. He twisted the appendage and bopped Makaze on the head.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, parting her blood-tipped beak in distaste, flicking her ears back.

They worked out some of the easier defense moves there in the dorm, kicking a few pieces of furniture in the process. Muse called a halt when Alan, Acyd and Xol almost careened into his desk, rocking the table and upsetting most of his paperwork.

"You have just learned what will aid you in a few hours," Crystal said, opening the door for Orca. The sea-loving gryphoness came in, toting their supplies via a large cart. "We are the second Assault team . . ." She paused as Orca handed her a scroll.

"What's this?"

"It was given to me by the guys who brought the collars. They gave one to Kalaki, too," Orca told her.

"What does it say, love?" Muse asked as they all gathered around. Crystal undid the complex ties and broke the official Council seal.

"Lord Grawn'fay sends his best in our endeavor," she said as she read. "We have his support as well as a good half of the Council." She continued to scan. "But, he warns that Phoenixia holds no allegiances in this action. They will not give, nor take. Hmm, ‘Other than what you have requested, Ambassador, no other such aid will be enacted upon lest you fail in your mission. It was not easy to decide this, but as we conceive it today, the Masked City does not pose a threat to Phoenixia's interests.' "

Muse's eyes flashed and he grabbed for the message; he read it, struggling with the Vahazayi words and script. "He insulted you . . .," he said to explain himself.

"No, he didn't, love," Crystal told him, laying a talon on his arm. "That's the way things go."

"I don't think we'll ever understand, Crys," Acyd told her, shaking her head slightly, arms folded across her chest. Behind her, Ary and Makaze were making faces.

The stoic environment cracked and they all laughed.

Uneasiness was not an emotion Neo-Xolaris was accustomed to. Though he was programmed to experience it, his usual manner did not allow for it to occur. He had been "on-edge" as his fellow Guilders termed the state for the past few nights. He hadn't any reason to return to the Federation for an up-grade, so when the sensor that warned him of like-cybers registered an anomaly, he dismissed it. Yet, the persistent nature of the sensor got the best of him, and the following declaration of war made him think: Could a Federation droid be the catalyst? But he never got to explore such possibilities. Time in the Guild sped up as events do, and he was now standing on the ramp overlooking the spacious Guild gardens.

The rest of the Wing was arranging themselves in the takeoff formation. "Uh, Xol?" he was asked more than once in the past 10 minutes. "Where do I go again?"

So, he told them. Loss of patience was not one of his traits, although once, he did get an inkling of perturbation. As such, he tried to focus his thoughts elsewhere. The coolness of the war collar did not seep into his frame as it might the others, but he was aware that the orb on the front was no ordinary Federation medal. Perhaps, if he was allowed, he would examine this phenomenon more closely.

"Xol?" Alan asked from his right side. "You sure I stand behind Lux?"

"Yes, Alan," the cybergryph told him for the second time, allowing a touch of terseness into his vocal processor. The blue gryph caught the meaning and backed up into position behind the seraph ludrakoni.

A dark black shape came winging around the corner and dropped by Lux: Eclipse. At that moment, Muse and Crystal emerged, the Ambassador in her full Phoenix form. The smokey-blue male had a saddle strapped upon his withers, padded buckles and such wrapping about his chest and torso. A rustle of fabric heralded Aryante, bedecked in the traditional garb of his people. His massive twin broadswords gleamed and the whimsical light in his eyes had been replaced by a battle-hardened vigor.

Eclipse, noting their arrival, gave a quick -- but no less passionate -- farewell kiss to his mate and dove off the ledge. He rose on the updraft, banking. Muse and Ary took up their designated spot, the elf swinging an expert leg up and over his partner's withers.

"Wing Four!" Crystal's voice, as well as her tall stature, carried the message clear. They turned their eyes and ears towards the golden Phoenix. "I'm not going to regal you with a speech -- you don't need one. You're here to do a job, and by all that's holy, we're going to do it!"

A cheer went up among those gathered. Quietly, Lux began chanting, soon, Makaze and Acyd joined, then Muse, Alan, Xol, Ary and Orca:

"Vahakayah! VAHAKAYAH!!!"

With a smile bordering on grim determination, Crystal joined them, letting the mountain ring with the warcry.

They flew on beside Wing Three, no more than a few lengths apart at the closet. Still, they did not mingle, keeping the distinctness of the Wings. Kaal flew hers differently that Crystal did, but they both reached the oasi at the same time.

Stacking his broadswords against an elen palm, Ary helped Orca and Alan unload Acyd and Makaze's packs. The two had been carrying Fourth's camping equipment between them.

"Ugh," Acyd muttered as the last remnants of the packs slid from her flanks. She arched her back, working out the kinks that had settled in while flying. Giving a languorous stretch, she flicked her tail against Ary's side. "Is that pool open?"

Turning to look, Ary winked at her. "Sure thing, 'Cydders. We've got it handled here. You two go get the water dirty."

Orca chuckled, looking over her shoulder. "You silly, no da," she said, prodding the elf playfully in the ribs. With a bound, the rainbowgryphoness leapt over the sprawled packages and dove headfirst into the pool. Makaze soon followed.

"Women," Ary said with a grin, throwing open the canvas tents. "Hand me that stake, Alan."

So, up went the first of the two giant twin tents. Each of these monsters could hold up to eight comfortably, but Guilders, although open, liked to have their own space. Thus, two were brought -- they were lightweight, waterproof, non-flammable to an extent and easily packaged as not to take up too much room. Crystal, Muse, Acyd and Lux would share one and Ary, Orca, Makaze and Alan the other. Xol preferred the outdoors and would keep watch all night -- as he needed no sleep.

As the day progressed, Eclipse crossed over to stay for a while, but soon returned to Third. Then, as dusk began to fall over Hellar, Xolaris reported his return.

Despite their pleas, Acyd excused herself from the shared tent. "I won't bother you four," she said with a wink and a chuckle. "Xol's vacated, as you know, and they're letting me stay with them." She held up one blue talon and a knowing eye ridge. "Dun tell me otherwise!" With a grin and a farewell, she pulled back the tent flap and left.

Curling themselves about the small "common room" of the great tent, Eclipse told them of the events that had occurred in the other Wing.

". . . And then he left," he concluded, sipping at his cup of juice. "I dearly hope that he returned safely -- and that First made it though."

They nodded solemnly.

"Long-range telepathy is risky at this point," Lux said, to which Crystal adamantly agreed. "We don't know what talents they have."

"We're to contact via Tsurieth in the morning," the golden Phoenix in gryphon form reminded them. "We'll know by then."

"We will, won't we?" Muse murmured, rising. He cast a glance at the small clock he'd taken. "The night has come; I suggest we go to bed."

Nodding, the others rose and retired.

<--Sweep nearly complete.-->

"Is the perimeter clear?"

<--As per orders.-->

The guard lounged against the cool exterior of the great turret. He'd seen the lord's tame dragon flying overhead, so it was nothing new. The screams of terror and death were old tunes to his weathered ears. Soon, they'd stop, but it would take a while.

"I know you," Xolaris whispered to the stars. His great faceted eyes blinked. "Why are you here?"

© 2001 Crystal Shekeira. All Guilders are copyright themselves; the Gryphon's Guild is trademarked to Tserisa Supalla. All other names, places and events are copyright to MH. Do not copy, alter or distribute